Ahn Cheol-soo: "Lee Jae-myung, If It Gains Votes, Who Knows What He Might Do... A Populist Recognized by Everyone"

An, Lee Jae-myung's Push for 'Ilsan Bridge Toll-Free' Called "An Unthinkable Act Beyond Ignorance"

On the afternoon of the 12th, candidate Lee Jae-myung is presenting his policy platform at the joint speech meeting of the Democratic Party of Korea's Gangwon regional primary held at the Oak Valley Resort Convention Center in Wonju, Gangwon Province.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, strongly criticized Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, who is pushing for the toll-free policy of the Ilsan Bridge, calling him a "populist recognized by everyone" and "a true populist equipped with the ideology that 'it is better for the people themselves to make decisions rather than a few so-called elites who think they are superior ruling the world.'"

On the 13th, at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly, Ahn said, "If such a person becomes president, he will forcibly implement basic income and create new taxes here and there to secure funding," adding, "No one can predict what 'kind of mischief' he might do if it gains votes."

He raised his voice, saying, "The reasonable solution to the Ilsan Bridge issue is to lower the toll to a reasonable level based on the beneficiary-pays principle," and "Governor Lee’s actions are beyond ignorance and unreasonable even from the perspective of an ordinary citizen, not a scholar."

Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 13th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

He continued, "I am deeply moved by the story of a self-employed business owner in his 50s who, at the end of his life, took out the deposit from his one-room apartment, his last asset, to pay the remaining employees’ wages," expressing condolences by saying, "I sincerely pray for the deceased’s soul and offer my deepest condolences to the bereaved family."

He also pointed out, "The large-scale collapse of small business owners and self-employed people was already a predicted situation even before COVID-19, when income-led growth, which is not found in economics textbooks, was pushed forward without a big picture of economic structural reform," adding, "The first and biggest victims of the rapid minimum wage increase and uniform working hour reduction were the self-employed business owners and their employees."

Ahn said, "Jobs disappeared, and a war between the weak broke out, and to make matters worse, COVID-19 struck," criticizing, "In this hellish situation, the populist virus of 100% universal disaster relief payments and Lee Jae-myung’s basic income is growing, which is a ruinous populism."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.